Monday, July 22, 2013

Sometimes among the sea of mediocrity of the
appstore you can find some little jewels that grab you for good. This is the
case of PWN: Combat Hacking, a game I got when it was free for a day and I got
so engaged by its magnificent simplicity that now I feel bad for not having
paid for it.

What is this all about?

PWN: Combat Hacking is a game about… (suspense music)
- hackers. In a future world controlled by corporations, these professionals are
highly valued both to protect and to do black ops for the benefit of these
corporations. Thus, they stage great tournaments to find the most promising
ones and offer great contract deals to the winners. Some others though enter
the tournament with more shady motives.

There are 8 main protagonists to choose, each
one specialist in one of the 8 different abilities of the game. Each one starts
with his unique skill and in a Megaman-esque way needs to beat all the other 7
characters to unlock their abilities and finally make it to the tournament
finals.

Optik Scanners are the best in the game. Beat her and she might teach you to use them.

The game

Each game of PWN features a network of interconnected
nodes. Victory is achieved by either completely suppressing the other hacker´s
presence on the network or by controlling a certain number of main computers
that may be present in the network.

To do so, all the players have the ability to
capture nodes. Simply by taping a node adjacent to a node you own a capture
percentage bar will start to load until you take control. Neutral nodes are
faster to capture than the opponent´s, and if you have more than 1 node connected
you will also gain speed multipliers to any capture. On the other side if you
lose the attacking nodes capture will be interrupted.

Having more than a node will double or triple the capture speed bonus. Encrypt that node!!

It is important to note that this capture
percentage stays on the node even if you abort capture or are forced out so a
later attempt to capture will start from the previous capture percentage.

Additionally, if any of nodes are isolated from
your main network, they become vulnerable. So detecting weak points in the
anemy network and exploiting them is one of the main strategies of the game.

Adding Spice

With that the game would end up being pretty
basic, but then the 8 abilities come into play adding a lot of flavor.

Encrypt: Adds a second capture bar to a
node, harder to remove, thus increasing the time needed for capture. It is vital
to secure chokepoints, and if applied to a node being captured it restarts the
requirements for capture, thus being a good counter to capture. If it gets
isolated from the network though, it will be easier to capture.

Overclock: Overclocked nodes increase
passively your capture speed and are good at capturing encrypted nodes. The bad
thing is they also speed up virus spread on your network and if the enemy
captures them they keep the overclocked bonus so it´s good to keep them out of
reach.

An overclocked node in the frontline is usually a heavily disputed position.

Spike: Spike targets adjacent nodes and disconnects
them from the network for some seconds. It can be used aggressively to split
your enemy network in half and attack the isolated nodes or on your own network
to prevent capture of critical positions. However spike doesn’t affect
Encrypted nodes.

Virus: Viruses target a set of adjacent
nodes and start a simultaneous capture. If any of the nodes falls to the virus It
spreads to the adjacent nodes. The virus can be cleansed by touching the
infected nodes, but as the capture percentage stays, using scanners to “heal”
the nodes is critical or else a second or third virus could cripple half your
network. Viruses cannot capture or spread to firewalled nodes.

Backdoor: Backdoors are placed on enemy nodes
and by all effects they always count as adjacent to your network so you can
start captures or launch attack skills through them. They cannot be placed on
Firewalled nodes though, and they can be detected by Scanners.

Firewall: Firewalls block Viruses, Backdoors and
Trojans to access adjacent nodes so they are a defensive ability. However if a
firewall node is capture it is not destroyed but it changes allegiance so it´s
important to place it far from your opponents reach. Also, Spiking the firewall
node will leave the adjacent nodes vulnerable again while the firewall is down.

Axiom's mastery of Firewalls proves too much for Phantom´s Backdoors

Trojan: It´s a Trap!! – Set a trojan in a
node, and when the enmy captures it…BAM. You keep the node and take with you
the attacking nodes and maybe some other adjacent. They are an excellent way to
capture overclocked nodes without the hassle of tearing the cryptography and If
you manage to do it this way you will keep the encryption for yourself when you
capture the node!. Trojans can be detected by a Scanned though and are easily
deactivated when the enemy is aware of them.

Scanner: Scanners remove enemy presence from
your nearby nodes, effectively “healing” the nodes. They can also detect
Trojans and Backdoors so they are a very efficient defensive tool. However, as Firewalls
and Overclocked nodes, they change allegiance when captured so you need to keep
them away from the front lines.

Thinking out of the node

The game can only be described as frenetic.
It´s like having to play rock paper scissors lizard spock with ten hands simultaneously.
You have to keep guessing and assessing the situation in real time and thinking
of effective ways to counter or lock down your opponent into submission. And
even though, just one error can mean defeat, so it´s a very intense game where
nothing is decided until the last second.

Even cornered, Paragon still has a chance if he manages to split Cipher´s network in two.

Many times I had victory at my grasp when I detonated
a Trojan and lost half my network, leaving the weakest areas exposed. Or a
rogue virus broke havoc into my heavily overclocked network. On the other hand I
also grasped great victories by crippling a superior enemy with a well placed
Spike.

To make things harder, PWN networks are in 3d,
and, while most of them can be usually seen completely from a certain angle,
giving you access to all the nodes in a glimpse, there are some exceptions, and maps like Diamond or Axis
will test your nerves as you will have to change camera view by spinning and twisting continuously to grasp
everything that is going on in the network a la Minority Report.

Endless Fun

Overall the experience is challenging and fun.
The campaigns increase in difficulty and offer an incredible amount of
different network patterns with their chokepoints and weaknesses and while some
will favor different playstyles, in the long run, only the most aware hacker
will be the only successful. The AI is also very good and makes for a great
challenge, adapting to your strategies and effectively punishing you for
playing recklessly.

The only major problem I saw in the game, after
all my playtroughs is that the AI on games where you do not have full map
vision is very difficult to beat. It´s a bit frustrating to fight a fast
responsive machine opponent when you cannot see the blows coming or can´t clearly
discern where the nodes are connected. The most grievous injury is the use of
Virus in these maps: you will rotate spin and turn frustratingly to have visual
to the nodes that are half hidden while the virus spreads and you can´t just
tap them fast enough.

Even though, this ended up feeling like a
challenge. You see, every map you beat is unlocked to your collection, so if
you want to be able to play on that network later, you need to beat the AI. So
in the end it feels like a boss fight with a small reward… and there are
achievements too… who wouldn´t like some achievements?

So... many... maps!

Summing up

If you like games that make you think and test
your fast reflexes, get PWN. You will not be disappointed. It´s a game with a
lot to offer in a very simple presentation and that will keep you grabbed to
your ipad for hours to come.